Contents

At an unknown point in time, the Berserker Armor is forged by dwarves, who imbue it with a violent Od purposed for drawing out and manifesting its wearer's negative emotions; particularly fear and rage.[1] The armor is eventually donned by the man who becomes the Skull Knight, used by him for centuries to combat demonkind.[2] However, its malevolent nature grows too much for him to bear, and so he entrusts it to his friend, the witch Flora. In her care, it remains locked away.[3]

The Berserker Armor's ominous Od overtakes its wearer's mind, suppressing their fear and perception of pain.[1] This allows for the transcendence of subconscious limitations placed on the human body, granting its wearer extraordinary gains in strength and endurance coupled with an inhuman tenacity for battle. In this empowered state, its wearer is more than a match for typically-overwhelming supernatural creatures. The armor also temporarily repairs debilitating injuries in the heat of battle: reinforcing broken bones and forcibly reallocating dislocated joints, while simultaneously piercing the flesh of its wearer with thin barbs and spikes in the process. Such invasive reparation can lead to its wearer's untimely death, however; piercing into and reconstructing their injuries until their last drop of blood.[4] Rather than actually healing its wearer, the armor heals itself when pierced by powerful thrust attacks.

In addition to the perilous nature of the armor, it can induce raging insanity, by drawing out its wearer's most negative emotions, therefore dissolving the differentiation between friend and foe.[5] It can also cause chronic mental deterioration, providing a hotbed for its wearer's inner darkness to fester.[6] Upon inducing such rage, the armor's helm takes on the appearance of its wearer's inner beast. In Guts' case, the helmet and bevor are shaped like the Beast of Darkness; able to function as a mouth capable of biting enemies. When the armor is active, the helm's eye sockets glow red and Guts' face is completely obstructed; if in control of himself, however, the swordsman's face is partially visible and the helm's eye sockets stop emitting their red glow.